Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) recently added several amendments to the Energy Savings and Competitiveness Act that were designed to lower energy costs for American families.
One amendment would require the Environmental Protection Agency to amend its proposed rule to create New Source Performance Standards basing each type of fuel individually for emission rates and on technology that is commercially available.
Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) cosponsored the amendment.
“Nearly 40 million American households earning less than $30,000 a year devote almost 20 percent or more of their family budget to energy costs, and when those costs go up, that means less disposable income in families’ pockets and less for priorities like groceries, doctors’ visits and education,” Blunt said.
The EPA proposed the rule in 2012 and it resulted in more than 2 million public comments. Blunt said it goes against the agency’s longstanding practice to set NSPS individually for each type of fuel.
Blunt also added the Gas Accessibility and Stabilization Act as an amendment to the bill. The amendment is designed to reduce increases in gas prices by improving reliability, flexibility and affordability of boutique fuels.
The Social Cost of Carbon Amendment, cosponsored by Blunt and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), was also added to the Energy Savings and Competitiveness Act. The amendment would ban agencies from using a social cost of carbon estimate in their cost benefit analyses.